This list of comics publishing companies lists companies, specifically publishing companies who primarily publish comics. Comic art is an art medium used to present ideas or stories via images. The images are usually arranged in panels in a sequence that conveys the story. Sounds are expressed using speech balloons and onomatopoeia. European comics have existed since 1837, when Swiss artist Rodolphe Töpffer published Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois. The oldest comic publishing company on this list is the now-defunct book publishing company, David McKay Publications that was founded in 1882 and published comics from 1935 to 1950. Most comic publishing companies were established in the United States, where comics became popular in the mid-1900s.
[36] Published comics as Alias Comics; imprint: Cross Culture. Alias Comics was sold to Abacus Comics[37] and Cross Culture was bought by LAMP PoST Publications in 2007
Comic publishing imprint of Carlsen Verlag, established in 1953,[90] started publishing comics in 1967; imprints: Edition ComicArt, B&L (bought 2002, since 2006 part of Carlsen Cartoon und Humor), Chicken House Deutschland (joint-venture with The Chicken House[91]
First publishing in 1993.[95] All characters except Lady Death were first bought by comic retailer Tales of Wonder, then sold to Devil's Due Publishing, and after the demise of Devil's Due Publishing finally went to Dynamite Entertainment. Rights to Lady Death were first sold to CrossGen Entertainment, and went, after Crossgen's demise, to Chaos! Comics founder Brian Pulido and Avatar Press under its own imprint Boundless Comics[96]
Active imprints: Dark Horse Manga, M Press ("diverse literary fiction and non-fiction prose for authors with a unique voice").,[113]Sequential Pulp Comics. Discontinued imprints: Comics' Greatest World later renamed Dark Horse Heroes (DH's shared superheroes universe), Legend (creator-owned projects, originally by Miller and Byrne),[114] and Maverick (creator-owned projects, follow-up to Legend)[115]
[citation needed] Imprints: America's Best, Ajax Publications, Ajax-Farrell,[135]Decker Publications, Red Top Comics, Steinway Comics and World Famous; successor to Farrell Publications
Registered club open to any comic-fan[137] with the goal to continue prematurly cancelled comic-series. First publishing in 2008. Imprint: Edition Solitaire
Also known as Oxton & Woolfolk Comics Corp. Publisher of Mad Hatter No. 1 and No. 2 (1946). The Mad Hatter was an attorney who craved adventure. With his superb, athletic ability and his signal hat, he took on crime bosses. Grant Richmond was a little-respected junior partner at the law firm of Fuddy and Bustle who felt that the legal system made as much sense as the work of Lewis Carroll. So by night, he put on a costume and became the Mad Hatter. He can shine his top hat insignia against walls to strike fear into criminals, and he also speaks in rhyme.
Victims of the acute paper rationing of 1945-1949 which bankrupt many U.S. Publishing Companies during WWII, O.W. Comics, Inc., was a short-lived house consisting of two comic veterans, William "Bill" Woolfolk, who had worked for MLJ and Facett, and John Gerard "Jack" Oxton, Sr., a film editor with Paramount in NYC. They co-created the Mad Hatter #1 and #2, and co-founded their Comic Book Co., O.W. Comics, which stood for Oxton & Woolkfolk. Woolfolk, the Editor and Oxton, President, operated their publishing company, O.W. Comics, Inc., at 150 Nassau Street, New York City, New York in the mid-1940's.[176][177][178]
Sold to IPC Media and VNU in 1973; bought back by founder in 1979; became Promedia, Inc. in 1982; became Kauka Promedia in 2002; became Rolf Kauka Comics in 2008[190]
[citation needed] Owned by Enwil. Also published under Rural Home Publishing Co. and Rural Home Publications.[193] Titles: Cannonball Comics, Eagle Comics, Red Circle Comics
Marvel Comics is a New York City-based comic book publisher, a property of The Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman as Timely Comics, and by 1951 had generally become known as Atlas Comics. The Marvel era began in August 1961 with the launch of The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and numerous others. The Marvel brand, which had been used over the years and decades, was solidified as the company's primary brand.
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, comic book writer, and screenwriter known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on Daredevil, for which he created the character Elektra, and subsequent Daredevil: Born Again, The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One, Sin City, and 300.
James Shooter is an American writer, editor and publisher for various comic books. He started professionally in the medium at the age of 14, and is known for his successful and controversial run as Marvel Comics' ninth editor-in-chief, and his work as editor in chief of Valiant Comics.
Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest direct market comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry by market share. Its best-known publications include Spawn, The Walking Dead, Kick-Ass, Invincible, Jupiter's Legacy, Witchblade, The Maxx, Savage Dragon, Bone, Saga, Radiant Black and Stray Dogs.
Fantagraphics is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the erotic Eros Comix imprint.
The Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing reviews of the products of the mainstream comics industry, the magazine promotes the view that comics are a fine art, meriting broader cultural respect, and thus should be evaluated with higher critical standards.
Mark Waid is an American comic book writer best known for his work on DC Comics titles The Flash, Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright as well as his work on Captain America, Fantastic Four and Daredevil for Marvel. Other comics publishers he has done work for include Fantagraphics, Event, Top Cow, Dynamite, and Archie Comics.
Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc., is an American comic book distributor serving retailers in North America and worldwide. It transports comic books and graphic novels, as well as other popular culture products such as toys, games, and apparel, from comic book publishers or suppliers to retailers.
Madeleine Joan Blaustein, also known as Kendra Bancroft, was an American voice actress and comic writer who was known for her voice acting work for 4Kids Entertainment, DuArt Film and Video and NYAV Post, for her reprising role as the character Meowth from the Pokémon anime series and for comics written for Milestone Comics, in which she introduced one of superhero comics' first transgender female characters. She was the first intersex and transgender voice artist for many of her respective agencies.
Mark Simpson, known by the pen name Jock, is a Scottish cartoonist, best known for his work in 2000 AD, The Losers, and more recently Batman and Wolverine. He is also known for Wytches by Image Comics.
The Small Press Expo (SPX) is an American alternative comics convention. A registered 501(c)(3) that was created in 1994, every year since its inception, SPX has put on a festival, known as The Expo, that provides a forum for artists, writers and publishers of comic art in its various forms to present their creations to the public and to expose the public to comic art not normally accessible through normal commercial channels. The annual SPX festival is typically held in the fall in Bethesda, Maryland. SPX is unique amongst the various comic conventions as it does not allow retailers to have a formal presence at the convention. Only creators and publishers are allowed to set up at the festival, although retailers can and do attend the show with the general public through paid admissions.
Martin Goodman was an American publisher of pulp magazines, digest sized magazines, paperback books, men's adventure magazines, and comic books, who founded the comics magazine company Timely Comics in 1939. Timely Comics would go on to become Marvel Comics, one of the United States' two largest comic book publishers along with rival DC Comics.
The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for American comic books. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by Phil Seuling. The network currently consists of:
Star Wars comics have been produced by various comic book publishers since the debut of the 1977 film Star Wars. Marvel Comics launched its original series in 1977, beginning with a six-issue comic adaptation of the film and running for 107 issues, including an adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back. Marvel also released an adaptation of Return of the Jedi and spin-offs based on Droids and Ewoks. A self-titled comic strip ran in American newspapers between 1979 and 1984. Blackthorne Publishing released a three-issue run of 3-D comics from 1987 to 1988.
Marvel Graphic Novel (MGN) is a line of graphic novel trade paperbacks published from 1982 to 1993 by Marvel Comics. The books were published in an oversized format, 8.5" x 11", similar to French albums. In response, DC Comics established a competitor line known as DC Graphic Novel.
David Anthony Kraft was an American comic book writer, publisher, and critic. He was primarily known for his long-running journal of interviews and criticism, Comics Interview, as well as for work for Marvel Comics in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Tarzan, a fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, first appeared in the 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes, and then in 23 sequels. The character proved immensely popular and quickly made the jump to other media, including comics.
Midtown Comics is a New York City comic book retailer with three shops in Manhattan and an e-commerce website. The largest comic book store in the United States, the company opened its first store in the Times Square area in 1997. Its second was opened on Lexington Avenue in 2004, and is known as the Grand Central store for its proximity to Grand Central Terminal. Its downtown store was opened on Fulton Street in the Financial District in November 2010, and its Astoria, Queens outlet store opened in March 2020. It also used to operate a boutique inside Manhattan's Times Square Toys R Us.
Personality Comics was a short-lived American comic book publishing company that specialized in unauthorized biographies of entertainers and professional athletes, adult comics, and parodies, frequently combining all three genres.
Spider-Man is a superhero and the second predominant Spider-Man to appear in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, created in 2011 by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli, along with input by Marvel's then-editor-in-chief Axel Alonso. Born as a modern reimagining of the popular character, Miles Morales debuted in Ultimate Comics: Fallout #4. Originally from the alternate Ultimate Marvel Universe Earth-1610 before being retconned to the main Marvel Universe Earth-616, he was bitten by a model spider that was specially and genetically engineered by Oscorp Industries biochemist, Dr. Conrad Marcus, who used the Oz Formula at the behest of Norman Osborn to create "enhanced spiders" in an attempt to duplicate the abilities of the original Spider-Man of the Earth-1610 Ultimate Universe.
1 2 Munn, Bryan (2010-01-05). "Barry Blair, 1959-2010". Sequential: Canadian Comix News & Culture. Archived from the original on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2012-02-11.
1 2 "Black Eye Rolls with the Punches: Publisher Vrana Shifts Company Focus Following Turbulent Period", The Comics Journal no. 203 (Apr. 1998), p. 18-19.
↑ Katz, William A. and Katz, Linda Sternberg. Magazines for Young People: A "Children's Magazine Guide" Companion. Bowker, 1991. Second edition. 103. Retrieved January 6, 2011. "Now Comics, 332 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1750, Chicago, IL 60604"
↑ Ominous Press at Comic Collector Live. Retrieved 18 June 2013
↑ "Comic Guide". www.comicguide.de. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
↑ Reynolds, Eric (November 1994). "Newswatch: Comics Publishers Suffer Tough Summer: Body Count Rises in Market Shakedown: The List Goes On". The Comics Journal. No.172. p.18.
1 2 "Newswatch:Dave Elliott Forms Blackball Comics". The Comics Journal (165): 14. January 1994. ISSN0194-7869.
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